Virginia Beach was not even on Gerald Divaris’ radar when he moved here 43 years ago from more than 8,000 miles away.
The chairman and chief executive started Divaris Real Estate with his first cousin, Michael Divaris, in South Africa in March 1974. This year, the Virginia Beach-based company celebrates 50 years of staying power.
With about 250 employees and 15 offices throughout the U.S., Divaris keeps its pulse on the commercial real estate industry in Hampton Roads and beyond.
“Real estate is an exciting business,” Divaris said. “I keep telling my grandson that the beauty of it is that nothing is the same; no single project is going to be identical.”
Its two initial companies, commercial real estate and property management, now have more than 40 million square feet of office, retail and industrial space throughout the U.S. in its charge.
The Divaris cousins started out by building one of the largest commercial real estate firms in brokerage in South Africa before Gerald Divaris left to pursue the American dream in 1981. Michael Divaris, president in charge of the office division, stayed in South Africa for another five years before he immigrated to the U.S. in 1986.
“I had really created a pretty interesting platform,” Gerald Divaris said.
He excitedly recalled his involvement with the public-private partnership for Cape Town’s 250-acre mixed-use development at its port that was in its early stages before he relocated his family and business across the water.
“The United States, to me, was a country that you could really count on the preservation of private enterprise,” he said. “And the fact that you could reach for the stars without any limits.”
Born in the former British colony of Rhodesia, Divaris earned degrees from the University of Cape Town in accounting and real estate marketing. He was accepted to study for his doctorate in real estate, but opted instead to focus on his established business.
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Virginia Beach beckons
So well-established early on, Divaris Real Estate was garnering clients from the U.S., and one of them was a Virginia Beach developer.
With his California broker’s license in hand and plans to settle on the West Coast, Divaris made a stop in Virginia Beach to say hello to his client, became enamored with the area and never left.
“To me, it was like a very small pond with very small fish,” Divaris said. “California was a very big pond with very big fish.”
From the start, Divaris thought outside the box, opting to base his company in Virginia Beach when, back then, most were in Norfolk. In 1982, as One Columbus Center on Constitution Drive was being completed, he became the building’s first tenant, moved his “world headquarters” in and got busy doing what he does best — signing other tenants.
A visionary from day one, Divaris saw the vacant swath of land surrounding his business and planted the seed for a city center.
“I said, ‘We need to create our own heart and soul — something we could really call and identify with for Virginia Beach,’” he said.
Divaris joined efforts in 1986 to create the Central Business District Association as the area was zoned as a central business district since 1976. The city established a commission to modify the zoning conditions to create what stands today as a true urban city center.
Growth came quickly for Divaris Real Estate as the company opened offices in Richmond and Newport News; Charlotte, North Carolina; Atlanta; Washington, D.C.; and Tampa and Miami, Florida, in the late 1980s to help recover and redevelop properties facing foreclosure when tax regulations changed.
It was around this same time that Divaris was diligently expanding Town Center, bringing in Armada Hoffler as a partner to handle the development and construction while his business oversaw management and leasing.
Lou Haddad, CEO of Armada Hoffler Properties, said in an email that Divaris Group is a key component in their success at Town Center as well as other markets within the state and into the Carolinas.
“Our business model is reliant on quality firms providing top-notch services at our properties,” Haddad said. “The Divaris Group has set a standard of excellence that answers that challenge.”
Throughout the years, Divaris worked his charm convincing retailers new to the Virginia Beach market — such as Anthropologie, Lululemon, Free People, Bluemercury and, most recently, Lego — to open stores in Town Center.
“Retail is the glue that ties everything together,” he said.
Divaris was also responsible for bringing national retailers, including Ikea, Best Buy, Walmart, Kohl’s and Ross, to Hampton Roads.
The look and feel of Virginia Beach today is a much different one than Divaris remembers when he first set eyes on it. He credited the leadership of Jim Spore, the former Virginia Beach city manager, for much of it. Spore equally credits Divaris for amazing changes within the community.
“It was a marriage made in heaven, so to speak,” Spore said. “He’s probably one of the most connected retail experts in the country.”
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‘Stick-to-it-iveness’
Divaris has ventured into creating new and exciting architecture, such as with 3556 on the Bay. The condominium building’s beach is secured with two seawalls to help protect it from erosion.
“That is the only project in this entire city, to this day, that has the wall under the beach,” he said. “It really worked very well; the beach increased in size.”
Such work ties into what Divaris calls his four pillars of success: work hard, think outside the box, think about benefiting the community you serve and treat your employees like family.
Vince Mastracco, an attorney with Kaufman & Canoles, said he is honored to have done business with Divaris throughout the years.
“He’s got enormous credibility and veracity in the community in which he does work,” Mastracco said.
Mastracco was one of more than 350 attendees, including employees, clients, family and elected officials, at a celebration marking the company’s anniversary in mid-June at the Virginia Beach Westin hotel.
“I told him there was a lot of love and admiration in that room for him and what he’s done,” Mastracco said.
Tom Frantz, an attorney marking 50 years with Williams Mullen, said he met Divaris the same year he arrived in Hampton Roads. Frantz said his longtime friend is a visionary with an incredible work ethic who possesses a stick-to-it-iveness unlike others.
“We’re proud to be associated with him,” Frantz said. “He’s done a lot for the whole region.”
Divaris said he is proud of what he and his team have accomplished, but they are far from done. The company is continuing to grow its footprint in Washington, D.C., and California and plans to expand into Texas and Florida. The Divaris Group has also grown to include Creative Development Partners, Cobalt Real Estate Solutions, Ingenuity Development, KLNB Asset Services, The McGarey Group and S.T. Burke Retail Partners.
He also continues to ensure that the future of commercial real estate thrives. The company maintains a healthy internship program, which Divaris’ grandchildren, Gabriel Divaris, 14, Hazel Divaris, 12, and Max Hammerson, 13, look forward to taking part in.
After losing his son Alexander in April 2019 at the age of 40 from colon cancer, a scholarship was established in his name to benefit a senior from Princess Anne High School. Alex Divaris had worked as executive vice president of the company and director of Creative Synergy. He was also a founding member of CBDX, the young professionals division of the Central Business District Association.
“We were grooming him to take over,” Divaris said, noting his daughter, Maria Hammerson, runs the company’s Beverly Hills office and his nephew, Tony Divaris, is chief operating officer.
“So now my challenge is to keep alive to wait for my grandchildren, Gabriel, Hazel and Max, to get ready to join us,” he said.
As for his roots, Divaris said he and his family traveled back to South Africa in 2022 for the first time in more than 40 years for his niece’s wedding.
“I got to see the waterfront finished, opened and operating,” Divaris said. “It was fantastic to see it.”
Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@pilotonline.com
